Alexander Hay (8 January 1865 – 8 May 1941) was a New Zealand-born Australian pastoralist, businessman and politician. He was a member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 1919 to 1922, representing the electorate of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

for the Nationalist Party (1919–1920), Country Party (1920–1921) and as an independent (1921–1922). Hay was born at

Parua Bay Parua Bay is a locality and bay on the northern side of the Whangārei Harbour in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Whangārei is 19 km to the west, and Whangārei Heads are 10 km to the south east, with Munro Bay between the t ...

in New Zealand and was educated at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland Grammar School (often simplified to Auckland Grammar, or Grammar), established in 1869, is a State school, state, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding secondary school for Single-sex education, boys in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

. He migrated to Australia in 1893 and visited England for the purposes of importing cattle in 1894. His brother, Sir John Hay, had inherited the substantial Berry Estate and

Coolangatta Estate The Coolangatta Estate at Coolangatta, near Shoalhaven Heads was established in 1822 by Alexander Berry on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Coolangatta Estate is located on the northern bank of the Shoalhaven River, in the foothi ...

following the death of his cousin, David Berry, and in 1895 Alexander Hay joined his brother in managing the estates. They undertook a significant development project which saw about 400 freeholders settled onto the land, while retaining the Coolangatta Homestead as their own. Along with his brother, he was heavily involved in the development of the Berry Central Butter Factory. Hay subsequently undertook successful investments in pastoral properties in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, which he in turn invested into mining concerns in New South Wales, including the Mount Royal Copper Mine, and rubber interests in the

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. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the first federal election for

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

() at the 1903 Glen Innes by-election () for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and again in the 1914 election for Hunter (

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

). Hay enlisted for service in World War I in October 1915 in the 2nd Remount Unit and was posted to

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; he was promoted to major during his deployment and returned to Australia in 1916. At the 1919 election, he was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, representing the seat of

. He had also been endorsed by the Farmers and Settlers' Association, and joined the Country Party when it was formed in 1920. His tendency to vote against his party resulted in his expulsion in October 1921 after he saved the Hughes Nationalist government from defeat by voting against a Country Party censure motion. He contested the 1922 federal election as an

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but was unsuccessful. He retired from politics and returned to his farming and business interests after his 1922 defeat. He died at Coolangatta Estate in 1941.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Alexander 1865 births 1941 deaths People educated at Auckland Grammar School Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for New England Members of the Australian House of Representatives National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia New Zealand emigrants to Australia Australian military personnel of World War I Australian MPs 1919–1922